LOVEboldly Supports the Southern Poverty Law Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 23, 2026

Contact: Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, Executive Director, LOVEboldly

Email: bhuelskamp@loveboldly.org

Phone: 614-918-8109

LOVEboldly Supports the Southern Poverty Law Center

Columbus, Ohio – Today, LOVEboldly is proud to reiterate its full and unwavering support for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the extraordinary legacy of justice it continues to build.

“SPLC's work is not abstract,” said the Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, Executive Director of LOVEboldly. “It’s the work of protecting real people: voters whose ballots need to be counted, students who deserve schools free from discrimination, communities that deserve to be free from the threat of hate. That is sacred and moral work, and it has been for more than fifty years."

Founded in 1971, SPLC has been a cornerstone institution in the long arc of American civil rights, pursuing justice through impact litigation, intelligence and research on hate and extremism, and deep community engagement across the Deep South and beyond. In 2024 alone, SPLC maintained 149 active legal cases, including 21 new lawsuits and 7 amicus briefs, and successfully blocked or crucially amended 151 discriminatory bills across the South.

That legal muscle has produced tangible results for real communities. More than 3,000 Georgia voters had their voices heard after an SPLC lawsuit ensured their delayed absentee ballots were counted, and more than 3,200 naturalized citizens in Alabama were protected from an unlawful voter purge. In 2024, the SPLC also tracked 1,430 hate groups and extremist movements, documenting the infrastructure of white supremacy operating in the United States today.

The SPLC’s scope spans voting rights, racial equity, immigrant justice, LGBTQIA+ civil rights, education, and the fight against white Christian nationalism. SPLC has partnered with Interfaith Alliance to host convenings of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders and faith-based organizations to strategize against the rise of white Christian supremacy. Those gatherings reflect what LOVEboldly knows to be true: the work of justice is always interfaith, always intersectional, and always urgent.

“At LOVEboldly, we have seen firsthand how the SPLC’s research, reporting, and legal advocacy directly protects LGBTQIA+ people, including LGBTQIA+ people of faith,” said Rev. Dr. Huelskamp. “SPLC’s Intelligence Project, for example, tracks the very organizations and movements that target our communities. Their litigation challenges the laws designed to erase us. We stand with them not just in solidarity, but in shared conviction that love demands justice.”

LOVEboldly calls on all people of faith, conscience, and goodwill to learn about the SPLC’s work, to engage with their resources, and to support their mission.

“For 55 years, SPLC has reminded us that we cannot be silent and so LOVEboldly commits to stand with SPLC. We will not be afraid, and we will continue to do this important work together.”

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LOVEboldly is an Ohio faith-based nonprofit working to create spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christian. Working in an interfaith context, LOVEboldly seeks to build a world where all LGBTQIA+ people can be safe and flourish in their faith traditions and beyond. Through programs including the LOVEboldly Fellows Program, Coming Out Christian (podcast), Grace and Glitter (devotional), and the annual Interfaith Pride Service, LOVEboldly is dedicate to the journeys of LGBTQIA+ people of faith. Learn more about LOVEboldly at www.loveboldly.org.

Seen, Known, and Loved: Embracing Divine Belonging

Densil Porteous - LGBTQIA+ Person of Faith

Quote

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.”

~Song of Solomon 4:7 (NRSV)

Devotion

For so many in the LGBTQIA+ community, faith has often been a battlefield—one where we’ve fought for our place, questioned our worth, and wrestled with the voices that told us we were somehow less than. We have been told we must change, suppress, or hide parts of ourselves to be welcomed at the table of faith. But what if we took a step back and listened not to the voices of exclusion but to the voice of love?

The Song of Solomon 4:7 offers a powerful, tender affirmation: “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” These words, often read as an intimate declaration between lovers, also echo the heart of God toward each of us. They remind us that we are created in beauty, wholly seen and wholly loved. Not in spite of who we are, but because of who we are.

I have seen firsthand how powerful it is when someone moves from believing they are tolerated to knowing they are treasured. I have felt the deep, transformative shift when a person understands that their Queerness is not a mistake, but a reflection of divine creativity. This knowing—that we are beautiful and beloved as we are—can be a homecoming, an exhale, a reclaiming of the truth that was always ours.

There is no flaw in you.

These words push back against the messages of shame that religion has too often placed on our shoulders. They are a direct challenge to the idea that our identity is something to be “fixed.” Instead, they call us to recognize our reflection in the divine and to see our Queerness as part of God’s wondrous design.

You were never meant to live in the margins of faith. You were never meant to be an outsider to divine love. The invitation is clear: step fully into the truth that you are seen, known, and loved.

Reflection

1.    When have you struggled to believe that you are wholly loved by God?

2.    How does hearing the words “there is no flaw in you” shift your understanding of your identity?

3.    Where have you found glimpses of divine love in the LGBTQIA+ community?

4.    How can you help create spaces of belonging for others who have been pushed to the margins?

Action

Write down the words of Song of Solomon 4:7 and place them somewhere you will see them often. Let them be a daily reminder that you are beautiful, beloved, and without flaw. If you feel called, extend this affirmation to someone else—remind them that they too are seen, known, and deeply loved.

Celebrating New Board Members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Westerville, OH - At its March and April meetings, respectively, the LOVEboldly Board of Directors voted to appoint two new board members: Mr. Eli Shiltz and the Rev. Br. Ian Boden, OLF.

Eli Shiltz (he/him)

Passionate about helping others and with a faith that has always been central to his life, Eli is an epidemiologist with the Ohio Department of Health. He moved to Ohio in 2018 and began his gender transition in 2020. In his spare time, Eli volunteers with Meals on Wheels and fosters animals. He is an active member of Blue Ocean Faith Columbus.

The Rev. Br. Ian Boden, OLF (he/him)

Born in London, Ontario, and raised in St. Clair, MI, Ian moved to Ohio to attend Capital University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religion in 2019. He then earned a Master of Divinity at Trinity Lutheran Seminary (part of Capital University) in 2025. Ian is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and currently serves as the Associate Pastor of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Marion, OH, where he lives with his cat, Saint Julien of Norwich.

Ian is also a life professed sibling in the Order of Lutheran Franciscans (OLF) where he has the privilege of serving as the Sacristan, on the formation team, and as an ecumenical representative. His overarching philosophy on ministry is that all people deserve to be seen, heard, known and loved.

The LOVEboldly Staff and Board Team

(First row) Rev. Dr. Ben Huelskamp, Executive Director; Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, Esq., Board Chair; Rev. Brian Steele, Board Secretary; (Second row) Cass Helm, Interim Board Treasurer; NV Gay; Rev. Iva Joyce-Miesse; (Third row) Eli Shiltz; Rev. Br. Ian Boden, OLF

LOVEboldly is an Ohio, faith-based nonprofit working to create spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christianity.

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